Many agricultural harvesters, such as combines, utilize a rotary threshing and/or separating system. The system typically includes at least one rotor drivingly rotated within a rotor housing including a perforated concave spaced radially outwardly thereof. The rotor typically includes a frusto-conical inlet end having a helical flight or flights therearound for conveying a flow of crop material through a circumferential space defined between the rotor and the housing. The main body of the rotor often includes an array or layout of threshing elements (e.g., rasp bars) that protrude radially outwardly towards the housing for conveying a mat of the crop material along a helical path through the circumferential space. The threshing elements typically cooperate with the concave to separate larger components of the crop, namely crop residue commonly referred to as straw, which includes stalks, stems, cobs and the like, from the smaller grain and material other than grain (MOG).
The concave typically includes grates that may either be maintained in a fixed position or movable in a radial direction with respect to a rotor rotational axis to provide adjustable clearance with respect to the rotor. Generally, concave grates near the front of the threshing rotor are adjustable and referred to as “threshing concaves,” while the concave grates in the rear section are fixed in position and referred to as “separator grates.” To the rear of the separator grates is the rotor discharge section. Currently, the installation and removal of the separator grates of a combine's threshing system is difficult due to their weight, access to mounting hardware, and minimal operator access space between the separator grates and other components of the harvester.
Accordingly, an improved system and method for installing separator grates within an agricultural combine would be welcomed in the technology.